Before you read the entries here, it’s prudent for me to air some basics: Knowing and Logic.
- Knowing and Logic. I am suspicious of certainty in logic and knowing. And, yes, this is weird because I’ve spent most of my life working in science. Mostly this means I’m comfortable with not knowing. I’m also comfortable with you not knowing.
- Belief. When we talk about religion and Christianity, we talk about belief. There may be evidence, but rarely is there the hold-in-your-hand or provable kind we use when we argue about how many pages are in the OED.
- The Bible. At least for Christians, it’s tough or impossible to do theology without the Bible. Theology, after all, is defined as the study of G. “Theos” + “ology.” As much as I believe the Bible to be the word of G, I also know the plain fact that in any age, in any way, in any form, for good or for bad, every single word and page, every famous jot and tittle of every Bible has been touched in some way by a human being. For what it’s worth, it’s mostly been touched by old white men. In most cases, they were good at their craft and very caring, but still…I’m suspicious.
- Science. I adhere to the classical view of science as the description of the workings of the natural world. By natural world, I mean the world made with things like atoms. And while we’re talking basics, I sidle up to Augustine, who, regarding science, says, “All truth is God’s truth.”
- Things we’re not aware of. This ties to questions of logic and science. Did you know that some very smart people say that dark matter makes up maybe 80% of the known universe? And that these same very smart people have almost no idea of what dark matter is? So, here’s a fact: no one, not even people who study this stuff, knows what makes up most of existence. I think about this, and I think about evolution and am generally convinced that humans are just walking bags of wet proteins who know how to talk. That we can think and feel and analyze, and that G deigns to speak to us, is truly miraculous.
- Philosophy. I enjoy philosophy, but am hopelessly dull at it.
- The real deal. When push comes to shove, I opt for relationsihp, evan and especially with G. I love reading theology and philosophy, but I mix up my Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox pals. I struggle in groups and with memberships and tip my hat to no once except for those who love G first and foremost.
- Simplicity. One of my spiritual gifts is simplicity. I am the eight year old child Einstein talks about. I am happy for you to straighten me out.
Numbers
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Paul – Should he have been the twelfth apostle?
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z